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Is the husband's statement to his wife: "I swear by divorce that I will divorce so-and-so" considered a divorce?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The husband's statement: "By divorce, I shall divorce so-and-so," if he intends his wife, has several scenarios:

1. Intending immediate divorce: Divorce takes effect if he divorces her, or if he breaks his oath and does not divorce her.

2. Intending to divorce her after a specific time: Nothing takes effect unless the period expires and he does not divorce her, in which case divorce takes effect due to his breaking the oath; because an oath is based on the intention of the one swearing it.

3. Not specifying a particular time: If he divorces her, his oath is fulfilled. If he does not divorce her, he is not obliged to divorce her until its occurrence becomes impossible (such as the death of one of them), and this is the view of the majority of scholars.

Ibn Taymiyyah and those who agree with him hold that if he did not intend divorce by swearing by it, he must pay an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yamin) upon breaking it, and his wife is not divorced.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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